l'Cie Core: Nexus
by Shadowmon26
Summary: A young war-hardened man joins the famous l'Cie on their quest to stop Barthandelus' plot. The one he loves meets a terrible fate. His new friends do everything they can to help, but Barthandelus sees this as an opportunity to break the man into becoming his ultimate weapon. OCxOC beginning FangxOC possible. rated M for blood, gore, language, and MAYBE lemon.
1. Bodhum, Where It All Began

**Author's Note:**

This is, of course, a Final Fantasy XIII story that is screwed from beginning to end because I choose to put in an OC. My other story wasn't really working that well. It turned out more of a "FF XIII Re-written" and I didn't want to do that. I didn't plan that story out which I know I should have and thus just recapped everything that happens in the game.

However, with this story, which I still am not planning out, I will have to make SOME changes because my character will throw every bit of this shit out o'whack.

I am sorry for all of you that read my first story, and even more for those who want to read it. I just can't make up romance on the spot like that for two almost opposite people. Maybe 10 to 15 chapters and I might get a little of the lovey dovey stuff but I do better if I have control without worrying about making them too OOC.

So, sorry again and I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix does. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

**Bodhum Fireworks Festival**

I sat on a rooftop watching the display while unfolding a piece of paper in my hands. It was a wanted poster of me from a week ago.

Once it was unfolded I went ahead and read the physical description below my picture to where some soldier described how he thought I looked. The description read that I was a "well-built male in his late teens, about 6'2'', with a full head of black hair and blue eyes. Was last seen wearing a white tunic, a black trench coat, black denim jeans and black combat boots carrying a long katana.' At the top of the page was my name.

Nexus

'_Huh...There was at least one soldier that actually remembered a lot of details even after I knocked him out. Usually people become little more than zombies when I do that.' _I thought amused. I knew that even though they have a physical description, they still didn't have what it took to catch me.

I looked back up to the light show.

'_Glad I came. Though, I can't forget the real reason I came.'__  
_

* * *

**Palumpolum: 1 week** **ago**

**Nexus' House**

_"Do we have too?" I asked my girlfriend, Izzabella, while walking into our bedroom. She had black hair done in a ponytail and a large portion hanging off the side of her head and silvery-blue eyes__. She was wearing a white blouse and denim jeans with some black sandals._

_"Why not? It'll be fun." she replied, smiling._

_"I am alright with going. But Izzabella, we will have to keep a low profile. You have to remember that neither of us is really good at obeying the law one-hundred percent of the time." I said. It was true, too. Neither of us have ever done anything too nasty, but usually some random piece of legislation that we don't even know about screws us up and forces us to hide from police. I really only bring that point up because it happens rather too often for my liking._

_"Well...that is definitely true. But, you already agreed. Good thing too, I already bought our train tickets." she said, smiling even wider with each passing second._

_"Ugh...why do we even have these conversations?" I asked, unnerved by her once again stabbing me in the back before we even talk about it. 'Just remember, she does it all the time. If you forgave her last time, you can forgive her this time.' I reminded myself, those words already having a soothing effect on the annoyance._

_"Because, we love hearing each other talk." she replied after a small amount of time, as she usually does. The best thing to do when you annoy me is to give me time to think and calm down. And, being my girlfriend, she knows this all too well._

_"Anyway, we leave tonight." she said quickly while walking outside of the room._

_"That was a little bit...sudden." I said. However, as I was finishing my statement, she closed the door._

_'Well...Oh Shit! Gotta Pack!' I thought. And so, I started doing so._

* * *

_'Ugh...It is so lonely without you.'_ I thought. About 2 days into our vacation, Izzabella went on a shopping spree around town and didn't come back I had no idea where she was. I tried asking around but nobody has seen her.

I then noticed something that was out of place. It was a couple riding on a velocycle through the fireworks. They fumbled around a little bit and then the man got them out of the bubble of explosions.

'_Way to go dude! Chicks love being next to explosions!' _I thought sarcastically. Though, I couldn't blame the couple for trying to be romantic.

_'At least they are together...'_ I thought, feeling lonely.

I was unsure what to think of it. I looked back to the fireworks remembered that they are rumored to be wish-granting fireworks.

'_Well, I've heard of weirder things happening.'_ So, I closed my hands in a common prayer form and wished for my deepest desire '_I wish for Izzabella to be safe. I already know that I am gonna find her and bring her back. Just, please, keep her safe until that time comes.'_

I went ahead and went back to my hotel.

* * *

_**Next**_** _Morning_ **

I woke to the sounds of people screaming their god-forsaken lungs out.

'_Well...may want to see what the hell is happening.'_ I thought sleepily, and with a head-splitting headache.

I got dressed and then I heard banging on the door to my hotel room. I hid my sword in a hidden pocket of my trench coat like I always do and proceed to get the door...when it got smashed in by a foot. Then a whole swarm of soldiers come into my room with guns trained on me and one holding a pair of cuffs and seemingly waiting to lunge on me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" I yelled. My body suddenly became stiff as a log and I couldn't move. It also hurt...a lot. I see in the corner of my eyes that a soldier had tazed me. I couldn't resist at all as I got held down and cuffed.

"You are being Purged!" the soldier said to me as he yanked me through the halls and into a transport.

'Huh...what do ya know? They **do** have what it takes to catch me...when I am half-asleep, have a hell of a headache, and just flat out can't move at all.'

I went ahead and dropped into a state of mind that I usually enter whenever I fight or am facing a serious situation.

The state of absolute emotionless.

I rode in the transport for maybe 10 minutes with some other people. Then the door opened and we were all dragged out onto a train platform with maybe another 100 to 200 people, all waiting to get Purged. I went ahead and got in line.

I then noticed something, I just moved. '_Too late to bust out now'_ I thought dejectedly. Another thing I noticed, the train platform was completely quiet. So when two people decided to start talking, due to that and to my naturally sensitive ears, it was like passing through a megaphone. I started to breakdown the sounds I heard to get an idea of what their deal was.

There was a man and woman arguing behind me about "voluntarily getting Purged." I then just ignored them because I thought it was a stupid idea and someone must be absolutely desperate to do such a thing. I then heard something interesting come out of the females mouth along the lines that if you don't want 'interesting' then you better pick another train.

Suffice to say, I like interesting. I saw the line and the space inside the train. I would definitely be on this train if I don't do anything. I take a quick peek back and see that the two arguing would get on the next train. I couldn't have that.

I managed to shimmy behind a few people until I was assured a spot on the next train. Then when it was my turn to be ushered in, I went in without a word and picked up a robe that they force the 'tainted' to wear. When I was sure no one was looking I slipped my sword out and hid it just underneath my robe. It is my experience that the quicker you can pull out your weapon, the better chances you have of surviving a fight. I then strapped in (got cuffed down) and waited for the train to move.

_**'I will never regret having got on the second**_** train'**

* * *

**Chapter II : He shall fight...and he shall be badass.**

Thank you for everyone who read this and my other story. I am again sorry for not continuing the other story. Please review and tell me what you think of my OC and his background.

Keep in mind, I am not planning this through. Literally, I just spent a few hours writing a completely random prolouge. I know it is not good writing etiquette but I have already got half of the second chapter done and I think it makes it a lot simpler, although it does take more time to build chapters up and any form of humor comes from randomness. I am tired so excuse my rambling.


	2. The Hanging Edge

Hello All,

I apologize for the delay as a major storm came through and knocked out my internet. That being said this chapter still would have taken me forever to write. I am writing this while watching every cutscene through and attempting to look for spots to change things. It is a very time consuming process.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this a little more.

Yeah, everything is in Nexus' point of view unless directed otherwise.

**Disclaimer: I don't own FF XIII, Square Enix does**

* * *

**Purge Train **

I have ridden this train for nearly 2 and a half hours. I can wait however long I have to just so long as I know how long I have to wait.

The man and woman who had convinced me to get on this particular train were a row down from me. I kept an eye out for them the whole ride. I thanked Etro for trained hearing because I get to hear when the plan goes into motion.

I went ahead and listened in when the man started talking. He asked the woman if she was ready, while she said "Shut It!" in a hushed tone. I was aware of the soldier walking past me and closer to them with some kind of strange device on his belt. The train hit a rather good bump and the woman sprung into action, taking out the soldier and stomping on the device in a trained and timely manner.

'_Not bad,'_ I thought, watching the display. I noticed that once the device was destroyed all the cuffs on everyone just came off. I got up and walked calmly down the cart. Up at the door two more soldiers were coming in. I kicked one in the head so hard that he did a complete flip before landing on his own neck, snapping it. The other just looked on as I killed his partner with hardly any effort. He raised his gun at me, '_Oh, wrong move boy.'_ I grabbed his arm, broke it at the elbow and flipped his gun back around towards his head and pulled the trigger._  
_

'_I hate fighting people like this. They believe they are doing the right thing and protecting people and I just slaughter them for fighting for what they believe in. I have killed way too many people for that reason, especially back during my training. Still, it has to be done.'_ I thought to myself. I don't enjoy killing, I just know that it is necessary. I took the opportunity to pull my weapon out and shed the robe. I attached the scabbard to my belt, pulled the katana out a bit, took a quick look at it, then sheathed it again._  
_

I run into the next cart and it turns out to be the room where they keep confiscated items. The two 'arguers' ran up and collected some weapons. The female, a gunblade, and the male, a few pistols and a plethora of rocket launchers...'_Wow...that is quite a difference in weapon size and power, man._' I thought. I finally take the chance to look at the appearance of these two.

The female had pink hair. That is definitely noticeable. She was acrobatically built and had blue eyes. She wore a brown turtleneck, a white jacket, a miniskirt, and brown combat boots. She had a sheath for her gunblade hooked to her waist hanging down the back of her thighs. She also had a pauldron on her shoulder that signified her as a sergeant. '_Well, she is, or was, a soldier then.'_ I deduced. I know that there are 2 different branches of military in our government. But, I have been chased by both quite a few times, so it really makes no difference to me.

The male was black and had an afro. That is also distinguishable. He had a goatee and brown eyes. He wore a short green trench coat over a green low cut shirt. He had green pants...and green boots. '_Man likes his green. Surprisingly doesn't look all that bad on him though.'_ He had two holsters attached to his thighs to hold his pistols and had a few rocket launchers strapped to his back.

We all made our way further up the train. Then, the roof of the cart was yanked right off by a Manasvern Warmech. We all got on our feet after being knocked down by the shock of the cart. The black man just said "Run!" Me and the lady both jumped up on top of the train. "I meant away!" the black man exclaimed. Though I did catch in the corner of my eye he was climbing up to where we were. I turned to face down the hunk of metal the army had cooked up.

The Warmech just shot a barrage of missiles at us. Me and the lady started dodging left to right. We were both trying to dodge so we could get closer to hit it. I finally managed to come within distance. I grabbed my katana and pull it out of it's sheath with the sickening '_Chink'_ of metal-to-metal. I did a horizontal slash and made a remarkably deep gash in Warmech's armor.

The lady was trying to do the same, however when she made her strike, her blade went deep and then got stuck. The Warmech shook her off of it, blade still embedded in its armor. I run over and struck the hilt of the blade with the flat of my blade, forcing the gunblade to pop right out of the Warmech. I then grabbed the blade out of the air and slashed with it. It went even deeper and didn't get stuck. I then jumped back and handed the blade back to the lady. I then heard gunshots and glance over to the hole we came from.

The 'afro' has arrived.

'Afro' man started shooting the places where we sliced through and the beast screeched in pain. It then grabbed ahold of the cart and started shaking it. "Fall back!" the lady yelled to us. We all ran to the next cart.

"Heh, yeah. Not so tough now are ya?" 'Afro' man taunted the machine.

"Old man, once you get something angry, it is usually best not to taunt it further." I scolded the old man.

"What's he gonna do 'bout it?" He asked. I was dumbfounded by his lack of knowledge in battle and yet, still being in battle.

The beast fired up its engines.

"Hey! Hey! That wasn't like a challenge now!" the man pleaded.

_'You should've listened to me old man.'_

The machine then lifted the cart up into the air, along with tipping ours over length-wise. Me and the lady simply ran down the incline and jumped onto the next cart. Afro-man was jogging for his life. "Jump!" me and the lady yelled at the same time.

He jumped and landed with a loud 'crash'. The machine then took up a new position on the cart. We all turned back to it.

The beast brought its arms around and produced spinning, electrified saw-blades on it. The machine then began to swipe at me and the lady. The man was standing a ways away, shooting at it. Me and the lady kept our strategy simple. Dodge, Cut, Dodge, Cut. Eventually the machine opened up its face and revealed a cannon. It began charging. I stood off to the side a few meters away and saw how it was pointed towards the lady and that she would have no way to dodge it. I ran and generated as much momentum as possible, and then body slammed the cannon and forced it to miss. I looked and it missed by about 3 feet.

'_Whew...Lady, you owe me.'_

I grabbed the cannon and swung myself up with it. I then shot off the cannon into the air about 20 feet and came down with all of my force with my katana and cut it's face in half. It then proceeded to slide off the cart and into the lake below.

"Whew, you got 'em good." the old man said. The lady just sheathed her gunblade and walked off.

'_I recognize the look in her eyes and the attitude. She is trying to keep us from going with her because she believes that she should be the only one to fight._' I thought. I wondered only one thing though; she just saw how both of us can handle ourselves. So where the hell was she going that she thought was so dangerous that we couldn't handle it? I followed the lady while the old man was complaining about never getting a brake. I take a quick glance back and see that he was talking with a...chocobo?

'_Okay, why not?'_ I wondered. We then proceeded to catch up to the lady. We climbed off of the train cart and started walking. After we were a ways away, the train cart collapsed off of the catwalk we were on and fell towards the abyss below. Up ahead were two soldiers and a portal nearby that spawned two mechanical dog-like creatures known as Pantherons.

"Not wanting to get Purged is one thing. But taking on trained soldiers?" the old man asked in an unsure way.

"Pantherons. Just domesticated Peacekeepers. Nothing to worry about." the lady said as she charged into battle. She swung her blade at the nearest soldier and felled him instantly. I ran to catch up and caught the other soldier's neck in my hand and a pantheron in the crease of my leg. I twisted my hand and flipped, breaking both of their necks. I turned around to see the old man shoot down the other pantheron.

We ran down the catwalk and turned a corner where there were 4 soldiers waiting. The lady motioned for all of us to surprise them. "Preemptive Strike!" she called out and we all jumped out from behind cover. She ran up and stabbed a soldier in the heart, the old man let out a flurry of bullets on another one and I decapitated the other two with a single slash from my sword.

Then there was a huge explosion behind us. Apparently, the army had seen fit to blow up the catwalk we were on. The weight of the remaining structure caused it to tilt and fall into an incline. The lady and the old man found a hold on the bridge.

Then there was another explosion much closer to me that threw me straight over the side. I fell for a short time and then felt my head hit the ground and I blacked out.

* * *

**Hanging Edge**

I woke up and found myself being dragged across the ground with both of my wrists being pulled on. I didn't even need to look to twist my wrists and use the leverage of the two people who were dragging me to pull myself up on my feet. I kicked ones legs out from underneath them and flipped the other onto the ground and held them down with an arm bar. After they were pinned I decided to take a look at them.

The one I had pinned down was a brunette girl wearing a white-and-purple blouse and a short purple miniskirt. I looked over to the other one to find a blonde teenager with goggles on top of his head wearing a pink long sleeve shirt with a sleeveless vest and blue jeans. Only one degrading thought went through my mind at that point.

_'Kids...I was dragged..by..kids.'_

The girl turned her head to me and asked quite plainly, "What the hell are you doing?"

"You were touching me and I just acted accordingly." I said with a blank look.

"What the hell do you mean by 'accordingly'?" the blonde kid asked. "You nearly broke my legs!"

I looked over at the blonde kid and saw that he was looking behind me. Just then, I saw a huge fist heading for the side of my face. I molded my body to the brunette girl below me to dodge and then swung my leg around behind me and kicked the person in the back of the leg. I turned around, still holding the brunette down, and faced the new attacker.

It was a tan, ripped male with fiery-red hair. He wore a sleeveless blue leather jacket with fur around the collar and white shorts. There was a gun laying behind him which, I am guessing, he dropped when I kicked him to the ground.

He came at me again with a side hook. I brought my leg up and caught his forearm in the crease of it. I then twisted my leg and brought it down to the ground which caused him to tumble over. While keeping a hold on the brunette, I withdrew my katana and held it against the tan guy's throat.

"What are you trying to do?" I asked in my signature 'emotionless' tone.

"Rescue you." the brunette replied.

"Yeah, we saw you unconscious in the middle of the bridge and tried to drag you to safety." the blonde added.

"So, why don't we all just calm down," the brunette said, "and let go of the girl because her arm doesn't feel like its meant to bend and turn in this direction." she tacked on as an afterthought.

I then realized that, because of the rapid changes of position, I was holding her arm at a dangerous angle to where her shoulder would be dislocated if I push her arm backwards. What she said made a little sense, so I went ahead and let her go. I also raised my katana from the tan guy's neck. However, I was far from trusting these people and kept it drawn.

"Why the hell did you attack people who were trying to help you, whoever you are?" the tan guy asked.

"At first I thought it was a group of soldiers dragging me. After that, you all started struggling against me and that was not a smart decision." I said, still emotionless about the ordeal.

The blonde kid came over after finally getting up and spoke to me in a cheery tone, "You're pretty good at fighting, at least. What's your name?"

"Nexus," I said, "and yours?"

"I'm Maqui, the brunette is Lebreau, and the angry one is Gadot." he replied.

"Why were you unconscious to begin with?" Gadot asked me. He looked ticked off after the last comment from Maqui.

"I fell from up there." I stated, pointing up to a bridge about 150 feet above us. They all looked up and then back to me disbelievingly. "I don't know how I survived either." I shrugged.

Just then, a squad of soldiers rounded the corner and opened fire on us. We ducked behind some pieces of debris. Gadot and Lebreau grabbed their guns and started firing. Maqui was giving them more ammo as they needed it. I, however, was waiting for the opportune moment that every enemy that uses a gun presents at some point or another.

'_Reloading...Now!" _I thought as I heard them stopping to reload. I jumped from behind my cover and proceeded to kill all of the remaining soldiers by slicing their heads off. I went back to the small group and then another squad came around the corner. We all got behind cover again.

"Ugh, this is crazy!" Maqui complained.

"Well, why don't you go take a nap?" said Gadot, ducking behind his cover when they started shooting towards him.

"Really? Can I?" Maqui said hopefully.

"Sure. And while we're all taking a dirt nap, you can save everyone." Gadot yelled while returning fire.

"Ugh, that's even worse." Maqui complained.

"No one's taking a dirt nap today. We're all getting through this together." said a voice behind us. I turn around and see another man running up to us. He was tall and well-built. He had blonde hair mashed down by a bandanna and blue eyes. He wore a white trench coat over a white shirt, gray pants and combat boots. He ducked down behind the debris that me and Gadot were behind.

"Our enemy is the Cocoon Sanctum. Their dreaded PSICOM no less." the man stated.

"What's to dread? PSICOM's nothing but a bunch of bluster and bullying. They've got nothing on NORA." Lebreau boasted.

"Well, we are the heroes after all!" Gadot shouted while firing.

"Let's prove it!" the blonde man exclaimed.

"Yeah!" everyone else shouted.

Me and the blonde man jumped from behind cover and rushed the soldiers. I was able to tell something about him once he took up a fighting stance though. '_He's a martial artist. You don't see those everyday. Based on the form, he is probably mixed.'_

He ran forward and simply beat the tar out of 3 soldiers with a few punches and kicks. I proceeded to kick one soldier in the legs, and then throw him into 3 more soldiers standing by an open section of the wall, causing all four to plummet off the bridge towards their deaths. The ones we didn't take down were gunned down pretty quickly by the rest of NORA.

The man looked to me and smiled, "So, now that that's done, why don't I introduce myself? The name's Snow Villiers." He then held out a hand for me to shake.

"Nexus." I said while shaking his hand.

"So, what was the deal with you and the gang?" he asked.

"Your 'gang' decided to try to move me while I was unconscious. I woke up being dragged by Maqui and Lebreau and reacted like they were soldiers. From there Gadot threw himself at me and I took him down." I said, going back to an emotionless tone.

"You took down the whole team by yourself!" he exclaimed. "And the way you make it sound, it took very little effort." he said almost dejectedly. It seemed he didn't like the idea that one person could defeat his friends like that.

"They are good fighters. It's just, I have a little bit of training. They just underestimated me." I said in an effort to cheer up the big man.

"Well, maybe I need to have a talk with them sometime about that." he said with an ominous tone and loud enough for his team to hear. Maqui and Lebreau both paled while Gadot looked really unnerved.

"Well, I couldn't get mad at them because they were trying to save me." I assured him, hopefully getting him to give them a break. He grinned at me and then turned towards his friends.

"Alright then, what do you guys say we get this show on the road?" he asked his teammates.

"You heard the boss. Let's move it." Gadot said.

"Right!" Lebreau said while Maqui just groaned.

I started traversing through piles of rubble and debris when Snow came up beside me.

"So, Nexus. Back there you said that you have training. You a part of the GC or are you PSICOM?" Snow asked staring at me.

"Neither." I said.

"What? But then where did you get the training?" Snow asked, bewildered.

"Somewhere else entirely." I shrugged. I wasn't entirely comfortable talking about this.

"Yeah, but where exactly? It had to be some kind of good if you were able to beat my team."

"Snow...I don't have a lot of experience talking to people and I am under a sworn oath to never divulge any extensive imformation about who I really am. I'm sorry. Suffice to say, I was trained in 'secret' by a group who don't like to be a topic in casual conversation." I said with a slight tone of annoyance.

"Okay...I understand, Nexus. I am just trying to get a read on you. You're a pretty cool guy but, well, curiosity won the battle." Snow said in a quiet tone.

"Don't worry about it Snow. You are actually the second person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting that has been polite about respecting secrets."

"Thanks. But really, you are an interesting dude. Is there any way to learn more without you having to break your oath?" Snow asked.

"There is only one loophole in the oath. It is so simple it is stupid. If one can find a member and guess the name of the group and what that member's individual 'specialization' is then the oath is overridden for you. I can give only this hint, it was formed a while back."

"Okay so now it's a guessing game. Let me think on this for a little while and I might be able to muster a few attempts. You're really good at fighting and you know tactical thinking so that may help me out." Snow sighed and then started to quicken his pace.

We kept climbing over a mountain of rubble until we eventually came to another squad of soldiers that were holding down a group of survivors. Me and Snow crouched behind a large section of concrete.

"Ugh, no more!" Maqui moaned.

"If you're complaining then you can still go on." I said, annoyed by his constant whining from barely doing anything.

"Ugh, there are soldiers everywhere." Lebreau said while bringing her rifle to rest on her shoulder.

"Yo, Boss. So what's the plan? Gadot asked.

"Charge in, guns blazing." Snow said.

"Hey! That's not a plan." Maqui pointed out.

"Real heroes don't need plans." Lebreau said while looking at Snow.

We all used the 'hero' plan and annihilated the squad of soldiers in seconds.

_'Effective.'_ I realized. _'I just might start using that more often.'_

We all approached the group of survivors. "Everybody all right?" Snow asked while Maqui tripped from running behind him and spilled a payload of guns all over the ground.

"Hey, careful with those." he quietly scolded Maqui who just chuckled nervously.

"Don't worry, no ones moving to Pulse today." Snow said to the group. "We'll clear you a path out of here, so be ready t-"

"Wait! Let us fight with you." a man interrupted Snow while standing up.

"Yeah, you can't just expect us to sit here!" another man exclaimed.

Snow looked to Gadot. "Could help." he said.

"Yep." Gadot agreed. Snow then looked to me. I really didn't want to allow civilians to fight. They have charisma, maybe even courage, but the objective of Snow's group was most likely to protect civilians. If it was absolutely necessary then I would say yes. But with Snow's group of 'mercenary-grade' followers and me, a trained warrior, it doesn't seem necessary. So...

"Please, let us help." the man who first interrupted Snow said while looking at me pleadingly.

_'I have a feeling that I am going to regret this. But, alright.'_ I thought resolutely. I nodded my head.

Just then, an explosion went off in the distance and most of the group gasped in fear. Snow then looked back to the group and suddenly had an air of leadership about him as he gave the one command that, in a war-zone, implies immense danger for those who step up to the task.

"Alrighty then, volunteers front and center." he said.

In mere seconds, over half the group got up and formed a line up to Maqui who began to distribute guns to the volunteers. Once they had their guns, they approached Team NORA to learn the basics of the weapons. I then noticed one of the last people to volunteer was an older woman with silver-gray hair.

"Mom?" I heard the kid who was sitting beside her say. She turned back and gave the kid a smile.

"Don't worry." she said and started walking towards a gun that was lying on the ground. She picked up the gun and tucked the stock into her armpit.

"Huh?" the kid said while shifting in his seat.

_'Your mom is taking up a gun and bearing the heavy responsibility of protecting you. I know what you're feeling, kid. I know what you're feeling all too well."_ I thought.

Snow turned around and saw her. He looked apprehensive and asked tentatively, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Moms are tough." she said.

"Alright." Snow said reluctantly.

Gadot flipped a gun around in his hand, then handed it to Snow. "It's the last one, Boss." he said.

Snow brought the gun over to the group and held it up. "Alright, last one. Somebody take it." he said. He then thrust it at the kid I was watching earlier, who just scooted away from it.

A girl who was sitting next to him rose up and held her hands out saying, "Here."

"Push comes to shove, keep him safe." Snow said. The girl then pointed the gun at me and pretended to shoot with a "Bang." I decided _'Why not?' _and stumbled back with an "oomph."

Snow then addressed the group as a whole. "Alright, everybody lay low and you'll be fine. We'll clear out the area." He then thrust him arm above him and yelled "We're going home together!" Nobody budged an inch.

_'Awkward...'_

"C'mon, everybody up." Lebreau said. At that, everybody got up and started moving.

_'Trust the cute chick to get a crowd's attention.'_ I thought.

"Right. New recruits, on me." Gadot ordered while jogging off with the volunteers the way we came. I race to catch up to them but stop to look back at the kid that I watched. He still hadn't moved. I ran back to him, grabbed him by the arm, and hauled him to his feet saying, "Time to go, kid." I felt his shaking all through my arm. _'He's scared that he won't see her again.'_ I realized. "Don't worry, kid. I promise I'll protect her." I turned around and sprinted to catch up to Snow and the others once he started moving on his own.

I finally catch up to Snow, Maqui, and Lebreau. They turned towards me and waved. Then I saw a soldier shooting up into the air and shouting "Bring down the resistance." I look up and see an airship drop off a Beta-Behemoth.

"Heroes don't run from fights. Nexus, you ready for something like this?" he asked me.

"I know this, that thing is dead whether it's ready or not!" I shouted, holding my katana, still in it's scabbard, in a ready stance.

The behemoth charged at us. All of NORA dodged but I side-stepped and slashed my katana against the beast baseball-style. The result was a gigantic gouge running down the length of the beast. NORA cheered me on as they started firing at the beast. Snow dashed towards it's face and lashed out with a kick so hard he created a permanent dent in it's mug. It roared in rage of all of our antics and started to rise up on its hind legs. The beast let out a guttural roar and drew a sword from it's head.

The beast turned and slashed at me because I did the most damage to it before. I ducked under it's slash and stabbed its knee. It howled and tried to swipe at me again. NORA fired upon its face. While Snow was attacking its other knee, trying to bring it down. It simply kept swiping at me while I dodged and parried its blows and made an occasional attack to its knee. It eventually fell down on its knees. Snow circled around and smashed into its back, forcing it to be in hands-and-knees position.

"Nexus! NOW!" He shouted while putting his hands together into a foot hold and bending slightly. I understood. I ran at him and stepped into his hand. He boosted me up and I jumped right at the very peak. I flew high into the air and came down right on the creatures neck with my blade. It sliced through like it was carving through butter.

"We make a pretty good team." Lebreau said as she walked up to us.

"Damn straight." Me and Snow both said at the same time. We all just laughed.

"C'mon, Gadot and the others are just up ahead." Snow said heading off towards the sound of a gunfight.

We run after Snow towards an intersection of crosswalks where a major gunfight was taking place. I got there just as Gadot ran around the corner letting out a battle cry and shooting down a couple of soldiers. The remaining soldiers retreated. Then, a Skytank appeared out of nowhere above us and opened fire on Gadot and the volunteers. Gadot yelled at Snow who was crouched behind cover with that one mother, "Snow! We got trouble!"

"Yeah, I know." Snow said looking around, probably for something to take down the Skytank with. He looked down the bridge and then looked back to the mother and said "Stay here." He then took off at a sprint down the bridge towards a rocket launcher. He tried to jump over the ground and catch it but missed. I saw the mother take off from where she was hiding and run towards it. She grabbed the rocket launcher and shot the bridge of the Skytank while it was charging its main cannon to fire at Snow.

I ran down the bridge in order to get next to the lady that I promised to protect. While running I looked over at the falling Skytank and see that its main cannon was still primed. I just got to the lady and Snow and jumped on both of them when it fired. I felt a scorching pain all down by backside that became worse and worse every second. The pain got to be too much and I blacked out.

* * *

I woke up feeling very hot all over my body. I push myself up to my knees and look down to find Snow and the lady were both out cold. I took off my coat to examine the damage to it. It was missing most of the backside from being burned off by the heat from the explosion. My tunic was ripped and burned in places but it seemed to be able to stay on my body for the most part.

_'Definitely need some new clothes.'_ I thought.

I hear grunts and look back over to find Snow and the lady had woken up. Snow looked horrified while staring straight in front of him. I look and see that nearly all of the volunteers and even some who weren't were falling off the steeply inclined remains of the bridge. I walk over and kneel down beside him.

"C'mon, Snow. We have to move." I said while shaking his shoulder.

Just as I stood back up, the bridge we were on collapsed into a steep incline. Snow and the lady were both thrown by it and started sliding down the bridge. I sprinted down the bridge to try to get ahead of them. Snow grabbed the lady's hand and grasped a steel bracing of the bridge while I managed to get a foothold near the edge and reached over the side to grab Snow's hand. I look down and see the lady looking desperate and started talking in a voice so low I could barely hear her.

"Please, you two. Get him home." she said.

_'No! I promised to keep you safe!' _I tried to scream out but my voice wouldn't work. I was forced to watch as she slipped from Snow's grasp and fell to her death.

"NOOO!" Snow screamed. I was at a loss for words and I could feel my eyes start to water. I found a firm grip on the bridge and started to pull Snow up with all my strength. I feel him starting to come up when the brace he was holding onto snapped off and caused his body to jolt around which made it hard to maintain a grip on his wrist. Then the section of bridge I was hanging onto suddenly broke off from the rest and I slipped off the edge with Snow and we both fell. I finally hit something besides air and it knocked me out again.

* * *

_'Ugh, I am getting really fucking tired of being knocked out. Probably have a permanent concussion by now.' _I thought as I woke up. I sat up and looked around. I landed on another bridge. I look to my side and see Snow trying to wake up Gadot by patting his face. He then got an impatient look on his face.

"Come on!" he said as he started bitch-slapping Gadot back and forth.

"Wha..." Gadot said as he started to wake up. He looked around confusedly for a moment before looking at me.

"Yo, Nex." he said while waving.

"Nex? Okay, I understand having a nickname like that for someone with a longer name, but does 'Nexus' really take that much effort to say?" I said. I was a little put off because I never heard it before. Being in a trained military environment like I was, you don't get a nickname. You get your name, rank, and nothing else. Although, once I thought about it, it sounded like a nice name for close friends to call me.

_'I am just not entirely sure that you qualify as a close friend.' _I thought.

"Geez, cut me some slack man. Does calling you 'Nex' really tick you off that much?" he asked.

"Just don't make a habit of it." I said.

"Hey Snow?" Gadot asked the blonde. Snow didn't even look his way. "Hey, get a grip man! What's wrong with you?" Gadot asked, annoyed by being ignored by his friend.

"Get him home...get 'who' home?" Snow muttered.

"Snow. I know what you're thinking about and I understand, believe me, but we need to get going." I said to him. I was told the same thing by the woman and I wanted nothing more than to find the boy I saw and fulfill her dying wish, but if we didn't get moving, we wouldn't be able to get out of this situation. We were stranded on a random bridge and we had no transportation.

"But..." Snow tried to argue, and then he looked pensive.

Gadot stood up and looked towards Snow. "Toss me that." he said while pointing to a gun on the ground by Snow's feet.

Snow grabbed it and tossed it to Gadot saying, "Catch."

Gadot caught it. Snow turned around and then Gadot turned the gun on him.

"Woah, Gadot! Take it easy." I said while drawing my sword. I didn't know if he would do it, but Snow was an alright guy who hasn't done anything that would deserve that kind of extreme consequence. Snow turned back to Gadot and looked shocked.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"What are you so afraid of? You're supposed to be the hero, right?" Gadot asked. He then cracked a smirk and brought his gun back onto his shoulder. He shrugged towards the Pulse Vestige and said, "She's waiting there ain't she? Your lovely bride-to-be? Isn't it about time you picked her up?"

Snow looked towards the Vestige and then got his 'hero smirk' back. "Yeah." he said.

Gadot nudged me in my side, "And you thought I was gonna shoot him." he said in a cocky tone.

"Well, friends don't usually point their weapons at each other. Plus, in war-time, suspect everything and never expect someone to NOT do something." I scolded. Gadot looked at me in awe and also looked a little put off by the fact that a teenager is so knowledgeable about war and that said teenager was giving him a lesson about it as one would teach a child to not talk to strangers.

"Who do you think you are, kid?" he asked me angrily.

"Hey, take it easy Gadot." Snow said.

"Who the hell are you calling a kid? I already proved that I can kick your ass ten times over without breaking a sweat." I said, ticked off by his little comment. I don't really care if someone calls me a kid, it was more of the fact that he said it with an insulting tone and I don't take kindly to insults I don't deserve.

"Alright guys, that's enough." Snow said, moving to stand in between us. I put my arm over his chest and pushed him out of the way. I could feel him still trying to push to stand in between us but he looked surprised when I actually held him back.

"No, Snow. I would like to hear whatever the hell Flamo here has to say about me." I said calmly but with an angry undertone.

"The fuck did you just call me?" Gadot asked, becoming angrier and angrier by the second.

"Flamo. Suck on it." I said while continuing to keep Snow from interfering.

"You little bastard, I'll take your head clean off." he said.

That comment went way too far. Nobody uses that insult towards me, and nobody threatens to kill me. I decided to give him one last chance to live by giving him a simple little task.

"Take. that. back." I said in a voice filled with all the hatred and promise of murder I could muster.

"Alright! THAT IS ENOUGH!" Snow yelled at us. I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind that he was right but I wasn't going to stop until Gadot took his comment back.

"No, this little bastard got all riled up over me calling him a kid, then he expects me to take his shit laying down?" Gadot asked stupidly.

I, on the other hand, have been called a bastard by this man two too many times. It was time to end this. I kicked his legs out from underneath him, drew my sword, and held it against his neck. I put as much anger into a glare as I physically could.

"Take. it. back" I repeated. "Gadot, I mean it. Nobody calls me a bastard. That doesn't just insult me, that insults my family as well. So, if you value your life, take it back. I promise I will calm down if you do."

I looked into his eyes and saw that he realized that I was serious. I really would end his life if he didn't take it back. He also seemed to realize that it's a stupid reason to die and the argument isn't worth his life, because he told me in a sincere voice, "Alright. I'm sorry for calling you a bastard. I didn't mean it and I take it back."

"Alright." I said, taking my sword from his neck, standing up, sheathing it, and then holding my hand out to help him up.

Snow whistled and said in an exasperated tone, "That was WAY too close."

"Now you have to be careful, Snow. Because if you ever call me that, I will not even hesitate." I said in a mock ominous tone. The funny part is that Snow went as white as his namesake. I laughed at being able to scare the giant of a man so easily.

"Don't worry, I will give anybody fair warning to take back calling me that before doing something drastic. I just really hate that insult." I said, trying to put them both at ease.

"Why?" Snow asked after a moment, no doubt wondering if he should risk prying into a matter that I seem sensitive to.

"Because it's true." I said before taking off around a pile of debris to finally get the group moving. I ran down the bridge until I came to a small squad of soldiers. I had built up a little steam a while ago, and I needed to get it out.

I looked at the soldiers and I tried to imagine a straight line through the squad that, if I run down it, would put me within striking distance of each one at small intervals. I found it and started my run. One soldier notice me running and alerted the others.

_'It isn't going to matter. You all are brave and are approaching this as smart as you can, but it just won't matter against me. I am sorry that you guys are going to die, but it is going to happen one way or another.' _I thought sadly as I ran. I placed my hand on my katana and then determine where I should slash the first soldier. Once I start this process, however, my mind and body go on auto-pilot. I then started slashing while focusing on the next place I would hit.

_'neck'_

_'head'_

_'stomach'_

_'neck'_

_'neck'_

I finish my onslaught by stabbing the final soldier through the neck. I then took my katana out of his neck, walk over to a dead civilian, tear some of their clothing and used that to clean my blade. I then sheathed my katana and look back at my handiwork and see every body covered in blood with a single deep cut on each one. There was a lot of blood.

I look back to where I came in and see Snow and Gadot standing there, speechless. They must have seen the display.

"Sorry. They were going to die anyways." I said in an emotionless tone.

"Well, true. I've seen worse. At least you ended it quickly." Snow said, probably in an attempt to clear my conscience.

"Badass." Gadot stated simply, causing Snow to chuckle and agree.

"You called?" I said while holding my hand to my ear. That got all of us chuckling.

"Alright, let's keep moving." Snow said, starting to walk further up the bridge when suddenly, three velocycles flew above us, went further down the bridge, landed. Gadot looked from behind a pile of debris, while Snow came up behind him and looked from around him to see that a squad of soldiers were protecting the velocycles.

"There's our ride." Snow said, taking Gadot's spot directly behind the cover. "On my mark." Snow said. Me and Gadot nodded. Snow held up his hand and did a '3, 2, 1' signal. Then Gadot ran out and sprayed the squad with bullets. Once he stopped, me and Snow ran out and rushed the remaining soldiers. Snow punched one and kicked another while I just chose to cut the remaining two soldiers' heads off.

We each stepped up to a cycle and strapped in. We then all started them up.

"That's a sad sound. Where's the soul?" Gadot complained, obviously not happy about a non-supped up vehicle.

Snow, on the other hand, just leaned out of his cycle and looked towards the vestige. "Hey guys?" he asked. Me and Gadot gave a 'hmm'. "If you don't know who to save, you just save them all, right?" he asked, determined.

"Something on your mind? You got plenty of time for thinking on the way back." Gadot said, still oblivious to the problem that Snow is trying to face.

"Snow, when we get 'back', wherever that is, you and me will have a talk about this. I think I have some information on it that will give you some peace of mind." I promised. I have a good idea about who that lady was talking about, but I still don't know exactly who that kid was.

Gadot pulled his cycle into a loop to pull up next to Snow while I just turned mine around like a normal person.

"Ready?" Gadot called out. Me and Snow nodded and all three of us looked to each other and then ahead.

"GO!" Gadot yelled and we raced off.

* * *

**Refugee Camp**

We rode for about 10 minutes and then came up on a camp that was filled with a lot more survivors. We flew into a small clearing when I see Team NORA pointing guns in our direction.

"Hey, don't worry, it's us." Snow called out to them. They lowered the guns and waited for us to land before coming over.

"Hey, Snow!" Maqui yelled out. He was standing next to a boy in a battle uniform with blue hair.

"Hey." Snow and Gadot said to their friends.

"Who's this?" the blue-haired boy asked Snow while pointing at me with his gun.

"Easy there, Yuj. This is Nexus. He's cool." Snow said.

"Nice to meet ya." Yuj said.

_'Wow, you treat someone as a good friend just because another friend of yours says he's cool.' _I thought.

"Likewise." I said. I then see Snow getting out of his cycle and coming over to the clear side of mine.

"You mind if we talk now?" he asked me.

"Sure." I said.

"Hey guys, excuse me and Nexus for a moment." he called to his group who just gave him a round of nods. I got out of my cycle and followed him over to a spot behind some crates.

"So, what do you know that can 'give me a sense of peace'?" he asked with a contemplative face.

"I think I know who the lady was talking about when she said to 'bring him home'." I said. His face then turned to a hopeful face.

"Really? Who?" he asked.

"There was a boy sitting next to her when she went to join the volunteers. He called her his mom. I would say that he is the most likely person she would want to get home safely." I said. "But I don't know his name or what he looks like. He was wearing those 'l'Cie robes with the hood up." I sighed tiredly.

"That's a start at least." Snow said while smirking at me. "Can you start looking around and see if you can find anything else? I have to do something first." he asked.

"Sure." I said. "You're going into the Vestige, aren't you?" I stated more than questioned.

"Yeah, my fiancee, Serah, was taken and is being held there." he said looking serious.

"Well, I wish you luck Snow." I said_._

"Thanks." he said while walking over to his group. He got back on his cycle and reminded his gang to keep all of the survivors safe. I watched him start up his cycle and fly off towards the Vestige. I then started walking back towards his group and approached Lebreau.

"What's up, Nex?" she asked with a knowing smile on her face. I winced internally at the nickname but knew that she wanted me to react. So I just acted like she didn't even say it.

"I was wondering if you guys were able to scrounge up any clothing. My coat was destroyed." I said.

"We have some in the crates over by where you and Snow were talking." she supplied helpfully.

"Thank you." I said before starting back towards the crates.

I look at the top of one of the crates and see black vest. I took my tunic off and slipped into it. I hear the sound of an engine starting and look back towards where we parked them to see two kids sitting in one. I cursed and started running for them and saw from beyond them that Gadot had the same idea. The cycle took off into the air with Gadot screaming at the kids to come back down.

I took a much more practical approach. I jumped into the last cycle and started it.

"Don't worry, Gadot! I'll bring them back!" I yelled over the sound of the engine. Gadot looked at me and nodded, stepping back. I gunned the engines and started to follow the kids.

_'You two kids better have a good reason for this'_ I thought as I watched the unskillful flying of the cycle I was tailing. It looked like the kids were more or less heading for the Vestige.

* * *

**Well, that took a long time to write. I didn't plan anything and I had to scrap this chapter once and rewrite it to start developing my OC more. I apologize for the delay and hope that you enjoyed it.**

**A friend of mine read this and complained about there being too much attention on action sequences. Here's the thing, I see a fight in a game and I pay attention to how the movements and attacks go. It really is just my brain over-analyzing things. So sorry.**

**I was also berated for changing the look of the OC. I was trying to go for one image and so many people were giving me different descriptions of what they thought he looked like. It's okay for your imagination to wander but maybe a more detailed description is desired. So here goes...**

**Think Vergil from DMC3, coatless, and with black hair.**

**Again I hope you enjoyed. I appreciate reviews and I value everyone's opinions and ideas.**


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